Ch.175Sisters

‘Is this the place?’

After using the spatial movement technique, Seiran arrived in a very strange space. Through the black-stained clouds, tangled golden threads lay scattered haphazardly. This sight continued endlessly. There was nothing else.

Beyond the clouds stretched the sky, and above that, an ambiguous zone straddling the boundary that separated the outside world. This place was exactly that.

“Hmm…”

A small girl’s hand grasped the limp golden threads. In that moment, Seiran could see the life contained within the threads. It was the life of an ordinary woodcutter from a mountain village. He had vanished meaninglessly because of war.

Most lives were like this. Seiran began walking forward, avoiding the golden threads that caught at her feet. The endless threads were flowing slowly but surely in one direction.

Like a flowing stream.

After walking along the rippling golden threads for some time, the surrounding landscape began to change. As the number of flowing threads gradually increased, everything around became dyed in gold.

Seiran, who had been walking for a while, stopped. Amidst the golden threads swirling from all directions sat a boy. No, would it be correct to call it a boy?

It merely had the appearance of a boy. It didn’t even have a proper face. Seiran’s bright red eyes recognized the bizarre and terrible true form contained within the boy’s figure.

[What are you?]

“A cute little sister.”

[How… how did you get here? I didn’t set a fate that would allow anyone to reach this place. Are you a reincarnator?]

Seiran placed her hand on Muramasa while stroking the back of her neck. The being before her was the root cause of her brother’s suffering. She instinctively knew this wasn’t an opponent that could be reasoned with.

[You… you have no fate… You’re dead? A dead soul… How?]

The confused-looking boy rose to his feet. The golden threads surged with his movement. With threads covering everything around, it felt as if the space itself was shaking.

[Hey. Let me take a look. Come here. Stay still.]

The boy began to approach. At that moment, Seiran’s Muramasa was drawn like a beam of light.

Swoosh-!

An invisible blade cut through space. The right forearm of the slowly approaching faceless boy split open with a ripping sound. What was visible through the gap wasn’t red blood or flesh.

It was countless golden threads pulsating. They constituted the boy’s body.

[Ah, aah… it hurts…]

Seiran’s face contorted. Was the sensation he was feeling truly pain?

To Seiran, the boy wasn’t even a living being. A cluster of countless souls, a chaotically mixed composite. Rather than being alive, it was simply a monster that existed.

[Ah, it hurts…]

Shuwaaa-

The golden threads swirling around began to be sucked into the boy. His small frame instantly swelled, transforming into something other than a human form.

The long, blunt body was enormous, and the thick bundle of threads extending from its back looked like wings. Compared to the long body, the arms and legs were relatively short and thin. The head awkwardly mimicked a human appearance, making it look extremely bizarre.

That was its true form. The cluster of countless souls and the memories contained within made this being’s appearance extremely alien. It resembled a human yet also a beast. All the threads existing in this world were entangled in its body.

The monster, having regained its original form, lost the ability to speak. Its large head split open with a crack, and golden threads poured out from within.

It was an attack pressing in from all directions. Nevertheless, Seiran didn’t retreat. Standing in place, she lightly swung her arm.

Slash-!

She shaped her spiritual power into a slashing attack and released it. The powerful curse contained within cut through all the golden thread attacks.

Seiran’s lips twisted slightly. This was because from between the cut threads, more threads spread out in succession. Seiran hastily retreated.

Kwang-!

The place where countless threads had struck was overturned, and golden waves spread out like ripples. Seiran jumped into the air and swung Muramasa in a wide arc.

The power Seiran used was spiritual force. It was a power that denied living beings, cursed them, and bestowed death. It showed excellent performance against the golden threads of fate—souls—that the golden beast was using.

A power with extreme compatibility.

However, compatibility only matters in normal circumstances. The golden threads pressing in from all directions were in quantities too overwhelming for Seiran to handle.

“Ugh!”

Breaking, tearing, being cut off. The golden threads that obscured her vision fell to the floor. Amidst them, Seiran urgently raised both arms.

Just as a barrier made of spiritual power protected her body, golden threads surged like waves, striking Seiran and smashing her to the ground.

Kwang-!

From within the surging threads, Seiran emerged. Wrapped in golden threads, she appeared different from before. A long tail had grown below her hips, and the wings spread behind her back were larger than before.

The more spiritual power she used at once, the more rapidly Seiran’s body departed from human form. Her small hand, now covered in scales, quickly formed a hand seal. It was a spell with a truly simple effect.

What the caster desired was death. The spiritual power flowing from her body moved with a single purpose. Part of the beast’s body turned black, and some of the threads constituting its body fell away.

Kuung-!

The left arm and a pair of wings from its back fell off. However, new threads wrapped around the empty spaces, restoring its body.

Seiran’s body also underwent a dramatic transformation. Her small frame instantly grew larger, and her dainty girl’s limbs transformed into a dragon’s form covered in scales.

After some time passed, neither being resembled their previous forms. The boy had become a golden beast, and the girl had transformed into a black dragon.

Seiran was not alone. Dozens of scales that detached from her body transformed into wolf shapes. The Muramasa she had brought also took the form of a wolf.

The materialization of spirits using mediums.

The wolf spirit made from Muramasa was particularly enormous. It was about half the size of the golden beast.

Kwang-! Bang-!

-Woof woof!

-Grrrr!

A series of clashes continued. Golden threads entangled over the widely spread black wings. Sharp claws and wolf teeth tore at the golden beast’s body, but only momentarily. Threads rushing in from all directions restored its body again.

No matter how powerful the curses and spells she unleashed, the opponent endlessly recovered. At that moment, part of Seiran’s body became entangled and bound by golden threads. She couldn’t escape no matter how she thrashed.

Realizing this, Seiran’s—the black dragon’s—chest suddenly swelled. Beyond her limits, she drew up spiritual power to the point of straining part of her body. Just as the scales covering her chest began to crack and fall off, Seiran released the pent-up spiritual power through her mouth.

Kwaaa-!

She continued to spew without stopping. She was releasing her spiritual power to the limit. As shock accumulated in her soul itself, her vision wavered. Cracks formed in her massive, sturdy body.

Nevertheless, Seiran didn’t stop. The death pouring from her mouth burned away all the golden threads covering the surroundings.

The massive golden beast couldn’t remain unscathed either. As powerful black flames engulfed its entire body, it repeatedly collapsed and recovered. However, the rate of collapse was faster than the rate of recovery.

Gradually but surely, Seiran was gaining the upper hand.

But that was only momentary. The black flames flowing from Seiran’s mouth were slowly weakening.

There seemed to be no end in sight. Even if she exhausted all her spiritual power, it seemed her opponent would instantly recover and pounce on her. Then, Seiran’s eyes fell upon the golden threads.

Threads of fate.

Souls. After hesitating briefly, Seiran hesitated no more. The many wolf spirits circling around the beast began to devour the golden threads scattered everywhere.

They were spirits bound to souls through powerful contracts. The souls they devoured flowed into Seiran.

She replenished her depleted mental strength by burning souls. The weakening black flames grew more intense, and her scales, which had been losing color, regained their vitality.

Eating, eating, endlessly devouring. Converting the devoured souls into spiritual power and burning souls.

Seiran stopped the breath she had been spewing when the golden beast could no longer restore its body. Its massive body had shrunk considerably, and even that was engulfed in black flames as it lay collapsed on the ground.

[I… I must maintain… the world…]

Those were its last words. The massive dragon devoured the body of the golden beast, which had shrunk to a small size while muttering.